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THE COUNTRYMAN.
other substantial and collateral points, and the
bearer or bearers, thereof, shall have safe con-
■duct both ways. Abraham Lincoln.’
The application to which we refer was elici
ted by your letter of the 17th inst., in which
you informed Mr. Jacob Thompson, and our
selves, that you were authorized by the Presi
dent of the United States, to tender his safe
conduct, on the hypothesis that we were ‘ duly
accredited from Richmond, as bearers ofprop-
sitions looking to the establishment of peace,’
and desired a visit to Washington, in the ful
filment of this mission. This assertion, to
which we theD gave, and still do, entire cre
dence, was accepted by us, as the evidence of
an unexpected, but most gratifying change in
the policy of the President—a change which,
we felt authorized to hope, might terminate
in. the conclusion ofa peace mutually just, hon
orable, and advantageous, to the North and to
the South, exacting no condition but that we
should be * duly accredited from Richmond, as
bearers ol propositions looking to the estab
lishment of peace.’
Thus proffering a basis for conference, as
•comprehensive as we could desire it, it seemed
to us that the President opened a door, which
had previously been closed against the Confed
erate Statea, tor a full interchange of senti
ment, free discussion of conflicting opinions,
and untrammelled effort to remove all causes
of controversy, by liberal negotiations. We,
indeed, could not claim the benefit of a safe
conduct, which had been extended to us, in ft
character we had no right to assume, and had
never affected to possess: but the uniform de
clarations of our executive and congress, and
their thrice-repeated, and as often-repulsed at
tempts to open negotiations, furnish a sufficient
pledge that this conciliatory manifestation, on
the part of the President of the United States,
would be met by them in a temper of equal
magnanimity. We had, therefore, no hesita
tion in declaring that, if this correspondence
were communicated to the President of the Con
federate States, he would promptly embrace the
opportunity presented, for seeking a peaceful
solution of this unhappy strife.
We feel confident that you must share our
profound regret, that the spirit which dictated
the first step towards peace, had not continued
to animate the counsels of your President. Had
the representatives of the two governments met
to consider this question—the most momentous
ever submitted to human statesmanship—in a
temper of becoming moderation, and equity,
followed, as their deliberations would have been,
by the prayers and benedictions of every patri
ot and Christian on the habitable globe, who is
there so bold as to say that the frightful waste
■of individual happiness, and public prosperity,
which is daily saddening the universal heart,
might not have been terminated, or, if the deso
lation and carnage of war must still be endur
ed, through weary years of blood and suffering,
that there might not, at least, have been infus
ed into its conduct somethi g more ol the
spirit which softens, and partially redeems its
brutalities?
Instead of the safe conduct which we solicit
ed, and which your first letter gave us every
reason to suppose would be extended, for the
purpose of initiating a negotiation, in which
neither government would compromise its
rights, or its dignity, a document has been
presented which provokes as much indignation
as surprise, It beai‘3 no feature of resemblance
to that which was o ginally offered, and is un
like any paper which ever before emanated
from the constitutional executive of a free peo
ple. Addressed ‘To Whom it May Concern,’
it precludes negotiation, and prescribes, in ad
vance, the terms and conditions of peace. It
returnsfo the original policy oT‘no bargaining,
no negotiations, no truces with rebels, except
to bury their dead, until every man shall have
laid down his arms, submitted to the govern
ment, and sued for mercy.’
What may be the explanation of this sudden
and entire change in the views of the President
—of this rude withdrawal of a courteous over
ture for negotiation, at the moment it was like
ly to be accepted—of this emphatic recall of
words of peace, just uttered, and Iresh blasts of
war to the bitter end, we leave for the specula
tion of those who have the means, or inclina
tion to penetrate the mysteries of his cabinet,
or fathom the caprice ol its imperial will. It
is enough for iis to say, that we have, no use
whatever for the paper which has been placed
in our hands. We could not transmit it to the
President of the Confederate States, without
offering him an indiguity, dishonoring our
selves, and incurring the well merited scorn of
our countrymen.
Whilst an ardent desire for peace pervades
tli e people of the Confederate States, we rejoice
to believe that there are few, if any, among
them, who would purchase it at the expense of
liberty, honor, and self-respect. If it can be
secured only by their submission to terms of
conquest, the generation i3 yet unborn who
will witness its restitution. If there be any
military autocrat in the North, who is entitled
to proffer the conditions of this manifesto,
there is none in the South authorized to enter
tain them. Those who control our armies arc
the servants of the people, not their masters,
and they have no more inclination, than they
have right, to subvert the social institutions of
the sovereign states, to overthrow their estab
lished constitutions, and to barter away their
priceless heritage of self-government.
This correspondence will not, however, we
trust, prove wholly barren of good results.
If there is any citizen of the Confederate
States, who has clung to a hope that peace was
possible, with this administration of the Feder
al government, it will strip from his eyes the
last film of such delusion, or if there be any
whose hearts have grown faint, under the suf
fering and agony of this bloody struggle, it
will inspire them with fresh energy to endure,
and brave whatever may yet be requisite to
preserve to themselves, and their children, all
that gives dignity and value to life, or hope
and consolation to death. And if there be any
patriots, or Christians, in your land, who shrink
appalled from the illimitable vista of private
misery, and public calamity, which stretches
before them, we pray that in their bosoms a
resolution may be quickened, to. recall the
abused authority, and vindicate the outraged
i civilization of their country.
For the solicitude you have manifested to in
augurate a movement, which contemplates re
sults the most noble and humane, we return
our sincere thanks, and are, most respectfully
and truly, your obedient servants,
C. C. Clay, Jr.,
J. P. Holcombe.
clay AND HOLCOMBE TO WM.C. JEWETT.
Clift^p House, Niagara Falls, July 20.
Col. W. C. Jewett, Cataract House, Niagara
Falls :
Sir Weare in receipt of your hote, admon
ishing us of the departure of Hon. Horace Gree
ley from tjie Falls : that he regrets the sad ter
mination ol the initiatory steps taken for peace,
in consequence of the change made by the
President, in his instructions to convey com
missioners to ^Washing Ion, for negotiations,
unconditionally, and that Mr. Greeley will be
pleased te receive any answer we may make,
through you. We avail ourselves of this offer
to enclose a letter to Mr. Greeley, which you
will oblige ue by delivering. We cannot take
leave of you without expressing our thanks for
your courtesy and kind offices, as the inters
mediary through whom our correspondence
with Mr. Greeley has been conducted, and as
suring you that we are, very respectfully, your
obedient servants, C» C. Clay.ir.,
J. P. Holcombe.
ADD1DI0NAL PAH TICULABS—TELEGRAPHIC DE
SPATCHES.
Clifton House, July 21—2.10 p. m.—Mr. Hay
brought Mr. Lincoln’s reply yesterday. It was
of such a nature that Mr. Greeley would not
deliver it to Sanders, but came over and intro
duced Hay, who hande 1 it in person to San
ders. When Greeley wa3 leaving Sanders, the
latter (former?) said—‘This is not the end of this
affair, and you must not think that weare black
guards’—as much as to say, Lincoln and Sew
ard were.
It appears that after Greeley had made all
arrangements for the rebel commissioners to
go to Washington, Mr. Seward had a hand in
manipulating the response of Mr. Lincoln, to
the propositions submitted by Sanders, through
Greeley.
G reeley left, out of humor, and will probably
fight it out in the columns of the Tribune.
The response of Mr. Lincoln, brought by
Hay, has been rejected by the rebel commis
sioners, and their reply is couched in terms
that will make a sensation.
Mr. Hay is still here, and the reply of San
ders, and his associates, will be delivered to
him this afternoon.
The commissioners’ contemplated visit to
Washington is indefinitely postponed, and per
haps may fall through altogether.
The correspondence is one of the most im
portant State documents that has been given
to the public for years.
Sanders,'Holcombe, and Clay are authorized
commissioners of the Southern Confederacy,
not specially to treat with Mr. Lincoln, for
they did not suppose he would receive any
proposition from them.
Beverly Tucker and several others are here.
Clay arrived this evening.
Clifton House, Niagara Falls, July 21—4 50,
p. m.—Rev. Ur. Breckinridge, of Kentucky,
who was temporary President ol the Baltimore
Convention, is here. He preceded Greeley a-
bout ten days, and had a five hours’ interview
with Prof. Holcombe, who is bis cousin, and,